Please exercise the use of common sense in joining me to vote no on the upcoming high school bond issue for a few simple reasons.

First, there is a greater sense of urgency being demonstrated on the behalf of Freeport to withdraw from the RSU and Mr. Horne’s comments in last week’s issue couldn’t have hit the nail on the head any truer. The ill-fated decision of the state to form RSUs several years ago has not only resulted in no economies of scale, it has pitted once neighborly towns against each other, not only in this community but all across the state, as is evidenced by other towns seeking to dissolve their RSU.

If some of the energy that has been so rabidly focused on the renovation had been spent on ways to re-organize Pownal and Durham as a stand-alone district with freedom of choice for secondary educational opportunities, we might see different spreadsheets circulating that present other options to a pricey renovation.

Second, if the bond passes, you can be sure shovels will be digging before Freeport is able to vote on their option to withdraw from the RSU and would then be saddled with a 20-year bond for an expansion that is no longer needed at the scope of the current plan should the decision to withdraw passes.

Lastly, any significant expenditure right now is too much, despite what those who claim the sky is falling try to tell you. Augusta already gutted the revenue-sharing commitment to Maine communities and very likely will slash it again if they don’t cut $40 million from the current biennial budget (and we know how good they are at cutting budgets). Property taxes are out of control.

The high school, like any aging building, needs attention, but it can wait a year until the decisions swirling around it can be resolved.

Eric Bowie

Durham